Confession time: When I found out that the Nivea Moisturizer was going to be something I would cover for the Royal Beauty Bag series, I was not exactly thrilled. In my mind, Nivea cream is a brightly colored blue potion that lived on my grandma’s dresser as a kid. I remember that she’d religiously take down the container and rub in the cream morning and night, always reminding me of the importance of moisturizing. But really, as much as I adored my late Grandmother, I was wondering how a cream that was being used over 20 years ago could still be amongst the best given all the advances in science since then. Needless to day, I was still looking forward to the test since I was hoping that this product would change with the times – plus Kate’s gorgeous skin allegedly owes some lustre to Nivea- and maybe, just maybe my grandma did know best when it came to skincare.
When I went to the drugstore to find the Nivea cream, I was not surprised that it still came in the same packaging as it did in my memory. Not very glamorous, but then again it’s really what’s inside that counts, right? I still like pretty bottles to line the shelves of my dressing table, so packaging is very important to me. Packaging rating is unfortunately 1/5. I got over the packaging pretty quickly though and was then immediately feeling pretty excited that the cream is a small fraction of the price of my normal product, Kiehl’s Ultra Facial Cream. I knew the budget-friendliness had to weigh into my decision and judging seeing as some of the other facial moisturizers out there cost a fortune. Price rating is definitely 5/5.
Got the Nivea home and decided to use it nightly for a month to test it out on my skin as you really need to give something a fair try to see the results. I did quite like the clean and familiar smell and in the effort of unbiased reporting, I even made my husband smell the container to see what he thought. Sidenote: Be very careful asking men to smell containers of face cream. He thought I was full on crazy. Overall, I’d give it a 3.5/5 for smell, docking points because there are just so many other creams out there which actually make me enjoy smelling the creams, such as my beloved niche local skincare brand Skoah (in Canada and US) The Nivea cream was good, but not worthy of a write-it-home profession of my love. If you like clean smells though, you’ll love this one.
And now the important part- how it felt and worked on my skin. I have been told I have pretty common skin type- a skincare salesperson’s dream called combination. Dry on cheeks, oily on t-zone (forehead, nose and chin) meaning I can be easily talked into buying two products for my one face. Ca-ching! I tell you this because it’s important to know what my skin is like before I tell you the next part… Nivea was way way way too rich for my skin. It felt oily on my skin no matter how much or how little I applied and when I woke up in the morning I could actually take a tissue and wipe the oil off my face. I had to stop using it after 3-4 days after my face broke out in incredibly rare for me pimples. I’m giving it a 1/5 for my personal skin as I’m sure it’s probably great on some skin types (Like Kate’s apparently), but very bad on mine.
The other problem I had with the cream is that most moisturizers nowadays have multiple benefits- like anti-aging- built in for your convenience. The Nivea cream is just plain so you’d have to add on other serums or potions to get your skin everything it needs. After doing some online research, I found that there are other products which Nivea sells which would likely be a better fit for my skin so in fairness I only tested the plain jane formulation.
All in all, I’d recommend the Nivea for someone with extremely dry skin looking to get a huge dose of hydration quickly.If your skin tends towards the normal to oily spectrum, this is probably too much for you. It’s very budget friendly (retailing for $8 for the small tube when I bought it) so it’s something you can easily test out to see how it works for you and not have to make a big commitment. You can even find a great deal on Nivea cream at Amazon where they sell it at wholesale prices.
Although I doubt that I’m your grandma’s age, I’ve been using Ponds Cold Cream for make-up removal and their moisturizer for more than 30 years which means I’ve been using it since my early 20’s. It’s not about packaging, although at the time it WAS about price, it’s about what works. I’ve tried most of the department store stuff (Clinique, Estee Lauder, Lancome etc) and always returned to Ponds.
As an aside note, last week as I was buying some wine and the clerk asked for my ID, I joked that she couldn’t possibly think I was under 21 and she said that ‘all 40 and under get carded’. Made my day as I’m 55.
Oh yes! My great-grandmother used Ponds too and it kept her face looking young and fresh! My Mum was very impressed!
The smell of Nivea reminds me of my Grandma. 🙂 She wore it so often that I’m certain it kept her face looking young and robust.
Personally, I prefer the Nivea products for youth. They smell nicer and feel better on the skin. 🙂
Apparently wonderful Grandmas think alike!